Joey Cora Can’t Be Serious
The Pittsburgh Pirates had fired Joey Cora because he was literally the worst third base coach in the game. We saw that early in the season as he had some indefensibly bad sends.
That said, he seemed to improve after April. Admittedly, his decision making at third base had not been an issue since April.
However, we are now seeing the return of Cora from April; the return of the worst third base coach in the game.
In the second game of the five game set against the Atlanta Braves, the Mets were down 8-0 in the second. Bases were loaded with two outs. Brandon Nimmo ripped a single scoring one.
The Mets had one on the board with Ian Anderson on the ropes. They had a chance to get back into the game with Anderson all over the place and the heart of the lineup due up. Then, Cora happened:
The play wasn’t even close. Guillorme was out by a large margin. Cora had run the Mets out of the inning. It’s the type of decision you get from the worst third base coach in the game.
The first game of the three game set was a pitchers’ duel. It was 1-1 with Starling Marte at third and one out. Remember, this is the same Marte who has been very cautious with a nagging injury, and as a result, we have not seen him trying to steal bases.
Daniel Vogelbach hit a shallow fly ball to left. Very shallow. Matt Vierling had all of his momentum going towards the plate and unleashed a strike:
Marte was out by a significant margin. That ended the inning, and the Mets would lose in extras.
On both plays, Cora made a send he never should have made. He also clearly didn’t account for the catchers.
Travis d’Arnaud and J.T. Realmuto are great on those tag plays. d’Arnaud is probably the best in the game. They lessen the need for the “perfect throw,” and they’re not flubbing it the way Tomás Nido did.
Another thing, neither play required the perfect throw. It just needed a throw. Both runners were easily out. In the end, they were both indefensibly bad decisions.
Cora cost the Mets a chance to win in both games. The hope is that he doesn’t do that come October when his decision making may cost the Mets a postseason series.